When is a role-playing game not a role-playing game? When its Dungeon Siege II, thats when. Although it looks to all the world like a proper in-depth role-player, in the style of Baldurs Gate and the like, Dungeon Siege II isnt interested in boring slo-mo combat or endless statistics and pointless cut scenes. Instead this game, just like its prequel, is all about non-stop dragon-slaying, orc-baiting action. The first game tended to take its action-only remit just a bit too far and almost became something of a point-and-click beat-'em-up. Dungeon Siege II rights this imbalance by adding a much stronger storyline and giving each character in your group of heroes a proper personality--to the point where theyll even start fighting with each other over various disagreements. The combat system itself has also been overhauled so that characters can specialise in very particular styles of combat, such as using two-handed weapons or shield and sword. Each character also has an individual special move which can be powered up for massive damage against multiple bad guys. The only slight disappointment with Dungeon Siege II is that graphically it hasnt moved on much since the original game and its mission disc. Considering how good looking the game was anyway, though, this isnt much of a problem at all and leaves Dungeon Siege II as the perfect introduction to the role-playing genre for those that arent quite sure its their cup of tea or for those that simply prefer a good brawl to worrying too much about their empathy statistic. --David Jenkins

Features:- Lead an elite battle party against a vicious marauder in this RPG- Choose up to 6 battle comrades; each class with unique heroic powers- Powerful and unusual allies; exotic creatures with special abilities- Challenging opponents; cinematic storytelling; interactive world- Online multi-party gaming for cooperative or competitive gameplay